For Good Noodles, Go "to the Republic for which It Stands"

As the expression goes, time flies when you're having fun - especially when a lot of that time is spent eating your way through the Big Apple! Last week marked the 6th anniversary of me moving to NYC - hard to believe it's been that long. Six years ago, MP and I arrived a few weeks after graduation, with no job and no real place to live. We had 10 weeks in the NYU dorms to get our lives figured out. But, before we dove straight into job hunting, we wanted to celebrate our first night in the city.

Since this was pre-Miss Menu, we wandered over to Union Square and looked around for a restaurant, and ended up at Republic. Right then and there, I declared to MP that a tradition should be started of returning to Republic every June 1st to celebrate our anniversary. It seemed really cheesy at the time, but 6 years later, I always look forward to this dinner!
This year, we walked downtown to Republic on an iffy day weather-wise, but hoped to score a table out front. Lucky for us, there were two open when we arrived, and we were seated right away. The tables outside are pretty cramped, but if you've ever dined inside the restaurant, you know there's a good chance that you'll be seated at a table with total strangers. So, I'll take the former option any day!

Although I'm usually not one to order the same dish every time I go to a restaurant, I do so at Republic. Guess it's part of the tradition! As usual, I got #31 - Pad Thai, with rice noodles, chicken, bean sprouts, egg strips, garlic,carrots, scallions...hold the peanuts. The menu has some interesting appetizers and salads, but I love their pad thai, so there was no messin' around.


The flavor was great, with just the right amount of heat. On some occasions, the chicken has been somewhat overcooked and flavorless, but this year, it was moist and flavorful. They always go a little overboard with the bean sprouts, but it adds such a nice crunch to the dish. The portion was huge, but it was hard for me to put the chopsticks down!

MP changed it up this year and went with #21 - Chicken broth noodles, with glass noodles, shredded chicken, watercress, bean sprouts, wood ear mushrooms, and shallots. She thought it was a great flavor, but heavy on the salt...and that the watercress was a little too bitter.

If you are looking for super-authentic noodle bowls, Republic is not for you. It's more of a trendy take on a classic. Apparently the restaurant has caught wind of that and hiked its prices since last year. A bowl of pad thai for $13 is no bargain. It was definitely more like $8 when we started going there. But, I guess that's the price you pay for livin' in the big city!

We weren't sure if it was because the waitress was so crazed, or if it's just more relaxed dining al fresco, but we weren't rushed out at all. Usually they will drop the check off before you ask for it and hover waiting for you to get up from your table. But, we were able to enjoy the nice weather and reminisce about all the crazy adventures we've each had and those we've shared in the past 6 years. It's been a wild, fantastic ride, and I can't wait to see what else is in store for me, for us, and for Miss Menu!

Republic
37 Union Square West
b/t 16th & 17th Streets
website
Menu Pages listing

You Can Bet on Bettola!

Last week, MP invited me to join her parents and her for dinner. I was really excited to see them, and also excited to be relieved of restaurant selecting duties! They picked Bettola on the Upper West Side. On a stretch of Amsterdam that is almost solid restaurants, I almost walked into the wrong one...and MP's parents actually did. The tiny lettering on the awnings makes it a little tricky!

Inside is a warm, cozy atmosphere with exposed brick walls and dim lighting. The wood-burning oven is definitely the focal point featured dead center at the back of the small dining space - as is the Italian flag.

We looked over the menu, and oohed and ahhed over a lot of the dishes. I knew I definitely wanted pizza, especially from a wood-burning oven. We were all interested in the same dishes, so we ended up sharing a bunch of things.

We started with two Insalata Di Farro with seasonal greens, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil with a balsamic vinaigrette. It was pretty straightforward, and a nice start to the meal. MP ordered the zuppa del journo, which was a carrot, celery, and onion puree. It was a pretty crazy color of orange, but had a great flavor. And, it was even better with focaccia from the bread basket dipped in it.

We decided to order three pizzas to share, and figured with 4 slices in each, it would be the perfect amount for the four of us! First up was the Regina Margherita, with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil. To me, margherita pizzas are the perfect kind of pie...simple, flavorful, and delicious. The tomato sauce was bold and tangy, and there was the perfect amount of cheese. As with all of the pizzas, the crust was crispy without being too dried out.
The second one was the Salute made with whole wheat dough with grilled and roasted vegetables. The variety of veggies was nice...I think I spotted zucchini, eggplant, onions, mushrooms, and red peppers. But, there was entirely too much rosemary...completely overwhelming the entire pizza. It was definitely still edible, but it would have been so much better if they went a little easy on the rosemary.

The third one was the Bianca, with mozzarella, parmigiano, mushrooms, and truffle oil. Between this pizza, and the panini I had recently at 'inoteca, I have officially become obsessed with truffle oil, especially when it is paired with a great melted cheese. This pizza was out of control good. It was at this point that I decided I wish I had the whole thing to myself! But, I was glad I was able to try two others, so I sucked it up and enjoyed my slice and a half! The mushrooms were tasty and the thick layer of the two cheeses were delish, but the star of this pie was obviously the truffle oil.

We went on the earlier side on a Wednesday night, and despite it being pretty empty when we arrived, the restaurant had definitely filled up by time we left. The service was good, although it was very hard to understand the server because her Italian accent was so heavy. How authentic!

There are dozens and dozens of great restaurants on the UWS. Menu Pages has 59 Italian restaurants listed in the neighborhood. But, if you're looking for a simple, relaxed setting for a great, Italian meal, I would definitely bet on Bettola!

Bettola
412 Amsterdam Avenue
b/t 79th & 80th Streets
website
Menu Pages listing

Somethin's Missin' in This Kitchen

As always, when AS and I have plans for dinner, we start throwing around a few ideas over email that afternoon. Last Thursday, I emailed her with a few ideas of neighborhood places we haven't been to before. The night before on my walk home from 'inoteca, I noticed Turkish Kitchen and thought how I really needed to try this place. So, Turkish Kitchen was my top pick, and she was excited to try it too.

I never really hear people talking about this restaurant, and I think as soon as we walked in, I realized why. The crowd was older...and not just middle-aged, but senior citizens. Not sure how that came to be, but this crowd seemed like repeat customers, which is a good sign in my book.

The server came over to greet us and give us our menus, and seemed less than thrilled that we weren't ordering cocktails. But, we moved on and took a look at the menu. We definitely wanted to share a few things, so we decided to get an appetizer, a salad, and an entree.

First up was the Shepherd salad, which consisted of fresh tomato, cucumber, parsley, green pepper, and onion. It was similar to what I know as an Israeli salad, except the vegetables were in larger pieces rather than being finely chopped. The presentation was beautiful, but the flavor was just a little strange. Not sure if that's the difference between Turkish and Israeli salads, but it seemed to have a little too much acidity...guessing from lemon juice.

We ordered the Cacik (like a tzatziki), made with homemade yogurt mixed with chopped cucumber, garlic, mint, and dill. It was so tasty...really light and refreshing, and had a great flavor with all of those ingredients coming together nicely. It was served with fresh bread that was similar to a very thick, fluffy pita. The bread basket kept refilling without us asking, and we were worried if we'd still have room for dinner!

For the entree, we got the Martarli Tavuk Sis...chargrilled of chicken breast, fresh mushrooms, green peppers on a skewer, served with rice and roasted potatoes. AS and I were joking how sometimes chicken kebabs can be sort of bland, and we asked to keep the cacik on the table in case we wanted to dip the chicken in it. But, we were both pleasantly surprised at how moist and flavorful the chicken was. The mushrooms and green peppers had the perfect grill flavor, without getting too charred the way peppers can sometimes. The rice even had a great taste too it, and the roasted potatoes weren't listed on the menu, but were a welcomed addition (and were dipped in the cacik!).

The food itself was fantastic, but the service wasn't the best. Turkish Kitchen seemed to think it is a much fancier dining establishment than it actually is. Yes, there were white tablecloths, but it was hardly that type of place. The server again gave us a little attitude when we only ordered just those three items, but as AS pointed out to me, two appetizers were the same price as ordering an entree, so it wasn't like we were only spending $20.

When we were ready for the check, it took another server, a bus boy, and finally the maitre d' to get our server's attention. There were so many employees running around, but something seemed to be missing. Service wasn't so bad that I wouldn't return, but in a time when people are cutting back on dining out, I'd be grateful for any and all customers to walk through that restaurant door, regardless of how little or how much they're spending.

Turkish Kitchen
386 Third Avenue
b/t 27th & 28th
website
Menu Pages listing

'inoteca? Check.

My restaurant "to do" list is never-ending. This is by no means a bad thing, but there just aren't enough meals in a day and days in a week to get to every spot on there. My wallet and waistline would also be less than thrilled if I ate every single meal out just to cross restaurants off my list.


There has been one on there for a few months now...'inoteca. Well, it really was on there as Bar Milano. But, the Denton brothers decided to close Bar Milano, and re-open it as an 'inoteca like their other two locations downtown. When I was put in charge of planning a dinner with some friends, 'inoteca popped in my mind immediately!

AM, LR, CD, and I went last Wednesday night...and despite the host on the phone making it seem like reservations were hard to come by, there were a handful of tables open the entire time we were there. (Just a quick tip - I originally tried to make a reservation through OpenTable, but they had nothing available between 5:45 and 10:15. When that happens, always call the restaurant and double-check.)

When we looked over the menu, we quickly realized that it was all in Italian (how authentic!)...and tried to figure out what was what. We asked our server to help us decipher everything, and she began to answer each of our questions, and also pointed out that on the back of the wine list was a glossary with definitions/descriptions of only some of the menu items. What?! Some of you may disagree with me on this one...but seems like the restaurant could find better ways to have the servers spend their time than translating most of the menu to the customers over and over again, night after night. I personally don't think it would take away from the authenticity or the Italian vibe if they had descriptions next to the less obvious menu items. But alas, we figured it all out and placed our order. We decided to order a lot of different dishes to get a taste of as many dishes as possible.

We started with the insalata di verdure di primavera. This was a small salad made up of fresh, Spring vegetables including ramps (finally got to try them!), peas, asparagus, pearl onions, carrots, and mint. The light dressing complimented the light flavor of all of the vegetables really well. I would definitely recommend avoiding eating a whole leaf of mint, though...not very pleasant.

In addition to the salad, we also started off with five bruschette: fagioli, tapenade, fig marscapone, pepperonata, caponata - also known as cannellini beans, olive spread, fig and marscapone cheese (ok that was straightforward!), stewed red peppers, and marinated eggplant. Each one was absolutely delicious and so full of flavor, but I definitely liked the pepperonata the best.

For the second round, we started with a panini, with fontina, truffle oil, spinach, mushroom. This thing was absolutely outrageous. The fontina was delicious, but what really took this thing over the top was of course the truffle oil. The bread was perfectly crunchy and provided a nice contrast to the cooked spinach and mushroom inside.

Next up was the lasagnette di melanzane, which our server described as a lasgana with thin slices of eggplant instead of noodles. The tomato sauce was so flavorful, and the fresh riccota on top was a nice touch.

To round out the entrees, we had the baked maccheroncini, which we thought was maybe a fancy version of mac & cheese. Wrong! Only thing similar about it was that it was small pasta and that there was cheese in it. But, in this dish, the pasta was served with zucchini, squash, tomatoes, a tomato sauce, and mozzarella. The garlicky flavor was so good and the tomato sauce had a lighter, tangy flavor to it, rather than a classic red sauce.

We couldn't resist trying some of the desserts, so we ordered an affogato and a Nutella panino. The affogato was a glass with two scoops of vanilla ice cream that were "drowned" in espresso at the table. I'm not a big coffee fan, but this was so delicious. The only disappointing part of the entire meal was the Nutella panino...and that is coming from someone who loves all things Nutella. There were two TINY triangles of panini with an even TINIER amount of Nutella spread in between the slices of bread. The two triangles side by side were probably the size of a credit card. After having a big panini during the main course, I expected this dessert portion to be a decent size too. Not so much.

In many recent meals, I've started to notice one thing that is quickly becoming a huge dining pet peeve of mine...the servers and busboys constantly coming by asking to clear your plates even when there are a few bites left, or clearing a tiny piece of the straw wrapper off the table. I just want to eat in peace and not to have to shift around so people can reach around me to grab things. I'm pretty sure that 'inoteca and all other restaurants do not have a shortage of plates and silverware that they need to be cleared and taken back to be washed immediately. And, I'd rather have a straw wrapper on my table than have a server's arm reach around my head to reach for it. Ok, just had to get that off my chest!!!

I guess it's tough to expect everything to be perfect when we ordered seven different dishes and when the waitstaff is still somewhat new. But, despite these small missteps, the meal and overall dining experience were fantastic. I may have finally been able to cross 'inoteca off my "to do" list, but would have no problem adding it back on to try some of the other dishes, or try 'inoteca's other locations.

'inoteca
323 Third Avenue
@ 24th Street
website
Menu Pages listing

Everything But The Kitchen Sink - NoLa Edition

Just got back from a fantastic weekend in New Orleans for my brother's graduation (Magna Cum Laude!) from Tulane University.All of the graduation festivities were great, but a huge highlight of the trip for me was the food! My brother is even more of a foodie than I am. And, after 4 years in New Orleans, he was eager to show my family some of his favorites, and also explore a few food spots he hadn't made it to yet.

Soon after landing, we headed towards a tiny BBQ joint called creatively named...The Joint! Damn good BBQ. And very cool to be able to see the smoker in action!

After graudation, we went to Willie Mae's Restaurant for some fried chicken. Willie Mae and her employees consider this to be the best friend chicken in the country. We begged to differ, but it was still very tasty...and a fun experience.
Graduation dinner was at Upperline Restaurant. The owner has an insane collection of art that decorates every inch of the restaurant and gives it a really awesome ambiance. It's almost equal parts art gallery and restaurant! And, the food was out of this world. I was a more adventurous eater than I've been in probably 15 years on this trip. A few things I had solely because of the "when in Rome..." philosophy: turtle soup, fried oysters, duck, gumbo, shrimp. Glad I tried all of this to get the full NoLa experience, but don't think I'll be eating any of that again any time soon!


And, here are a few food-related odds and ends from the rest of the weekend:

Pralines (yum) cooling in the French Quarter

Crazy assortment of Cajun spices - Voodoo seasoning, anyone?

(click to enlarge)

A lot of cities feature sculptures that are painted by local artists and places throughout the city. Cows in Chicago, apples in New York City, turtles in Charleston. In New Orleans, it's streetcars. And, this one happened to be painted like a shrimp po' boy!

Such a great weekend. As the song goes, I now "know what it means to miss New Orleans!" Congrats, Z...I am so proud of you!!!